DIY Baby Shower (or just a party!) Cake Pops

As part of the party planning of my sister-in-law’s baby shower, I was put in charge of a dessert and party games. The games were easy because there are standard baby shower games that everyone gets to suffer through enjoy. The dessert was a bit trickier. Do I do a sit-down dessert that you need a fork and plate for? Do I whip up easy-to-grab desserts? Ohhh…the pressure. Luckily, the decision was made for me when I was assigned to bring cake pops.

“We know you’ve made excellent cake pops in the past, Hollie, so we want you to make THOSE!”

Do you know how easy cake pops are to actually make? They look like so much more work than they actually are. Easy-schmeasy. (I didn’t tell my sister that. I just said “sure” I would bring cake pops.)

“Oh, by the way, the colors for the party are turquoise, lime green, cobalt blue and red. They MUST match!” my sister added.

Okay, now the pressure is on because if I get the shade of color wrong, the entire shower may be ruined. Not for real but clearly to my sister who is hosting the shower.

So, making cake pops is easy-peasy because it is just a cake baked, crumbled, mixed with icing, rolled into balls and dipped into candy chocolate. Seriously, my only hick-up would be the cobalt blue since my sister is just a tad OCD. 🙂

I’m not going to lie, I’m not sure I got the blue correct but the cake pops were gorgeous! Tons of compliments! And best yet, my sister loved them!

Ingredients:

1 box cake mix (I used dark chocolate cake mix!)

Eggs, water and oil for the cake

1 can of frosting (I used cream cheese)

25-35 cake pop sticks

Candy Melts (at least 24 oz – I used 1 1/2 packages of Candiquik)

Preparation:

1. Bake your cake according to the box. It’s easiest to just make it in a 13×9 inch pan. Remove from oven and cool completely.

2. Once cake is COMPLETELY cooled, crumble it up. No need for a food processor or anything like that – just mash it up with your hands.

3. Add 3/4 container of frosting of your choice. Don’t use too much frosting or the cake pops will be too wet. Not good. By the way, cream cheese frosting and dark chocolate cake make wonderful cake pops!

4. Combine the frosting and the cake crumbs with your hands. Yes, your hands. It just works best to clean your hands really well and get in there. Here is how it will look when it is all combined.

5. Next you want to make the actual cake balls. I found it easiest to use a small cookie scoop so that I could guarantee that all the cake pops were the same size. Remember the OCD sister, she like things uniform! 🙂

6. After you scoop the cake, roll them in your hand until they are complete round balls.

7. Carefully melt 1 square (or about 1/4 cup) of the candy melt in the microwave according to the package. Again, you can use whatever flavor you’d like – I went with vanilla. You just need a little candy to make sure the sticks stay. You don’t have to color the candy melt yet.

8. Take one cake pop stick and dip the very end in the candy melt and then stick into the cake ball. Repeat with all the cake balls. Put the cake pops into the freezer to set for 30 minutes.

9. While the cake pops are chilling, melt and color the rest of the candy melts. Melt the candy in the microwave according the package and add food coloring. I was going for cobalt blue. HINT: If you plan to make a design on the outside of the cake pops, make sure you don’t color all your candy melts. Leave a little to decorate.

10. Remove the cake pops from the freezer. Dip into the candy melt until complete covered.

11. You can either set the cake pops on a wax paper lined tray to harden or devise some type of container to keep them upright to keep the completely round shape. I wanted to just display them on a beautiful silver tray, so I didn’t mind if the bottoms were flat. That helped them stand up. 🙂

12. Let the cake pops set out until hardened. Do not put them in the refrigerator! You just let them harden at room temperature.

13. To add a fancy flair, I took white candy melt and drizzled designs on the cake pops and sprinkled some with the big, white, crystal sugar sprinkles.

Baby Gizmo founder Hollie Schultz is the proud mom of three adorable kids. This certified CPS (Child Passenger Safety) Tech and baby gear expert is the host of the Baby Gizmo video reviews giving moms the inside look at baby products before they purchase them. Hollie is also the co-author of The Baby Gizmo Buying Guide. A former resident of Los Angeles, she and her family now live in North Carolina where she is having a blast designing and decorating her new home.